~ A New Dawning Of Health And Fitness

How Far We’ve Come…

I’ve said in this space before that nothing really happens in the world until it happens to a celebrity.

A fad diet doesn’t become a fad until a celebrity loses twenty, thirty, or fifty pounds while on it. A hot new exercise craze doesn’t take hold until it changes a celebrity’s life. If a tree falls in the forest and Taylor Swift isn’t around to hear it, it probably doesn’t make much noise.

So there I am last weekend watching Justin Timberlake hosting Saturday Night Live. He’s singing and dancing, dressed up like a giant piece of tofu, encouraging people to hurry on down to Veganville. Well! What more proof do you need that the veganish lifestyle has hit the mainstream?

Surely there must be scads of celebrities out there who have jumped on the bandwagon, trading in their Salisbury steak for a smoothie. There are. I consulted Wikipedia.

Bill Clinton may be the most famous vegan convert out there today. Famous because he is a former president and also because he was known for photo ops at McDonalds back before salads were on the menu. And he may be the only vegan ever who went by the nicknames “Bubba” and “Slick Willie.”

When discussing celebrities, they don’t get much higher on the list than Sir Paul McCartney. Paul is not only vegan but an ardent animal rights activist. Still, I am very curious to know what his diet consisted of at the height of Beatlemania.

Actor-comedian Russell Brand is another United Kingdom vegan. Another recent convert, Russell is very funny if you get that British humor. He was once married to singer Katy Perry and, for that, I’m not sure if I should applaud him or feel sorry for him.

Brad Pitt is vegan. This doesn’t surprise me. If you told me Brad Pitt was a Buddhist and slept on a bed of nails, I would believe it. Now, if you told me the same thing about George Clooney, I would be suspect. Strangely, Wikipedia lists Angelina Jolie as a former vegan.

Lest you think there are no female celebrity vegans, try this on for size: Pamela Anderson and Jenny McCarthy. I invite you to draw your own conclusions.

There are a handful of celebrities on the list whose veganism I reluctantly accept only with a grain of quinoa. I think they may only have declared because it’s good for the planet and it’s the trendy thing to do. Plus, maybe a film role or an appearance on Letterman will come out of it. You know who you are, Alec Baldwin, Anne Hathaway, and Ozzy Osbourne.